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In December, Peter Wilson wrote for Foreign Policy about Maduro's "meteoric rise from bus driver to union leader," describing how he rose from Caracas poverty to become one of Chavez's most trusted men.
Maduro first became a supporter of Chavez before his 1992 coup attempt. When Chavez eventually came to power in 1999 he became a legislator, and went on to become foreign minister in 2006 — one of his most memorable moments was a 2007 rant that accused the US of "total madness" and plotting war against Iran.

He was elevated to vice president by Chavez last year, a move that many took to be Chavez anointing him as his heir. His humble beginnings have worked in his favor, and he remains one of the most popular members of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

What can we expect from him? Experts describe a relatively calm man who may not be a natural leader. According to The New York Times, his friends describe him as "a man who laughs loudly, who likes to eat submarine sandwiches and overfilled arepas, who enjoys cigars and baseball."

"It's impossible to expect Maduro to be another Chávez,'' Miguel Tinker Salas, a professor of Latin American history at Pomona College and the author of "The Enduring Legacy: Oil, Culture and Society in Venezuela," told Wilson. "Instead he represents continuity with the policies and programs that the president has promoted. This is still very much an evolving process with much still unclear."

“He’s known as a yes man, and he’s somebody that has never shown an independent streak,” David Smilde, a senior fellow of the Washington Office on Latin America, told the New York Times in December. “That’s what has been key for him, always put the light on Chávez.”

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

If Americans knew the truth about the growth of real democracy in Venezuela and other Latin American countries, they would demand economic democracy and participatory government, which together would threaten the power of concentrated wealth. Real democracy creates a huge challenge to the oligarchs and their neoliberal agenda because it is driven by human needs, not corporate greed. That is why major media in the US, which are owned by six corporations, aggressively misinform the public about Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution.

Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research writes, “The Western media reporting has been effective. It has convinced most people outside of Venezuela that the country is run by some kind of dictatorship that has ruined it.” In fact, just the opposite is true. Venezuela, since the election of Chávez, has become one of the most democratic nations on Earth. Its wealth is increasing and being widely shared. But Venezuela has been made so toxic that even the more liberal media outlets propagate distortions to avoid being criticized as too leftist.

We spoke with Mike Fox, who went to Venezuela in 2006 to see for himself what was happening. Fox spent years documenting the rise of participatory democracy in Venezuela and Brazil. He found a grassroots movement creating the economy and government they wanted, often pushing Chávez further than he wanted to go.

They call it the “revolution within the revolution.” Venezuelan democracy and economic transformation are bigger than Chávez. Chávez opened a door to achieve the people’s goals: literacy programs in the barrios, more people attending college, universal access to health care, as well as worker-owned businesses and community councils where people make decisions for themselves. Change came through decades of struggle leading to the election of Chávez in 1998, a new constitution and ongoing work to make that constitution a reality.

Challenging American Empire

The subject of Venezuela is taboo because it has been the most successful country to repel the neoliberal assault waged by the US on Latin America. This assault included Operation Condor, launched in 1976, in which the US provided resources and assistance to bring friendly dictators who supported neoliberal policies to power throughout Latin America. These policies involved privatizing national resources and selling them to foreign corporations, de-funding and privatizing public programs such as education and health care, deregulating and reducing trade barriers.

In addition to intense political repression under these dictators between the 1960s and 1980s, which resulted in imprisonment, murder and disappearances of tens of thousands throughout Latin America, neoliberal policies led to increased wealth inequality, greater hardship for the poor and working class, as well as a decline in economic growth.

Neoliberalism in Venezuela arrived through a different path, not through a dictator. Although most of its 20th century was spent under authoritarian rule, Venezuela has had a long history of pro-democracy activism. The last dictator, Marcos Jimenez Perez, was ousted from power in 1958. After that, Venezuelans gained the right to elect their government, but they existed in a state of pseudo-democracy, much like the US currently, in which the wealthy ruled through a managed democracy that ensured the wealthy benefited most from the economy.

As it did in other parts of the world, the US pushed its neoliberal agenda on Venezuela through the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. These institutions required Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) as terms for development loans. As John Perkins wrote in Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, great pressure was placed on governments to take out loans for development projects. The money was loaned by the US, but went directly to US corporations who were responsible for the projects, many of which failed, leaving nations in debt and not better off. Then the debt was used as leverage to control the government’s policies so they further favored US interests. Anun Shah explains the role of the IMF and World Bank in more detail in Structural Adjustment – a Major Cause of Poverty.

Neoliberalism Leads to the Rise of Chávez

A turning point in the Venezuelan struggle for real democracy occurred in 1989. President Carlos Andres Perez ran on a platform opposing neoliberalism and promised to reform the market during his second term. But following his re-election in 1988, he reversed himself and continued to implement the “Washington Consensus” of neoliberal policies – privatization and cuts to social services. The last straw came when he ended subsidies for oil. The price of gasoline doubled and public transportation prices rose steeply.

Protests erupted in the towns surrounding the capitol, Caracas, and quickly spread into the city itself. President Perez responded by revoking multiple constitutional rights to protest and sending in security forces who killed an estimated 3,000 people, most of them in the barrios. This became known as the “Caracazo” (“the Caracas smash”) and demonstrated that the president stood with the oligarchs, not with the people.

Under President Perez, conditions continued to deteriorate for all but the wealthy in Venezuela. So people organized in their communities and with Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chávez attempted a civilian-led coup in 1992. Chávez was jailed, and so the people organized for his release. Perez was impeached for embezzlement of 250 million bolivars and the next president, Rafael Caldera, promised to release Chávez when he was elected. Chávez was freed in 1994. He then traveled throughout the country to meet with people in their communities and organizers turned their attention to building a political movement.

Chávez ran for president in 1998 on a platform that promised to hold a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution saying, “I swear before my people that upon this moribund constitution I will drive forth the necessary democratic transformations so that the new republic will have a Magna Carta befitting these new times.” Against the odds, Chávez won the election and became president in 1999.

While his first term was cautious and center-left, including a visit by Chávez to the NY Stock Exchange to show support for capitalism and encourage foreign investment, he kept his promise. Many groups participated in the formation of the new constitution, which was gender-neutral and included new rights for women and for the indigenous, and created a government with five branches adding a people’s and electoral branches. The new constitution was voted into place by a 70 percent majority within the year. Chávez also began to increase funding for the poor and expanded and transformed education.

Since then, Chávez has been re-elected twice. He was removed from power briefly in 2002, jailed and replaced by Pedro Carmona, the head of what is equivalent to the Chamber of Commerce. Fox commented that the media was complicit in the coup by blacking it out and putting out false information. Carmona quickly moved to revoke the constitution and disband the legislature. When the people became aware of what was happening, they rapidly mobilized and surrounded the capitol in Caracas. Chávez was reinstated in less than 48 hours.

One reason the Chávez election is called a Bolivarian Revolution is because Simon Bolivar was a military political leader who freed much of Latin America from the Spanish Empire in the early 1800s. The election of Chávez, the new constitution and the people overcoming the coup set Venezuela on the path to free itself from the US empire. These changes emboldened the transformation to sovereignty, economic democracy and participatory government.

In fact, Venezuela paid its debts to the IMF in full five years ahead of schedule and in 2007 separated from the IMF and World Bank, thus severing the tethers of the Washington Consensus. Instead, Venezuela led the way to create the Bank of the South to provide funds for projects throughout Latin America and allow other countries to free themselves from the chains of the IMF and World Bank too.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom. - Patrick Henry

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. - James Madison

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Originally Posted by EO 11110

If Americans knew the truth about the growth of real democracy in Venezuela and other Latin American countries, they would demand economic democracy and participatory government, which together would threaten the power of concentrated wealth. Real democracy creates a huge challenge to the oligarchs and their neoliberal agenda because it is driven by human needs, not corporate greed. . .

I disagree. Those "human needs" have been exploited by everyone and his brother to bring a ruinous democracy, and we're about to enter the waking-up stage.

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

I disagree. Those "human needs" have been exploited by everyone and his brother to bring a ruinous democracy, and we're about to enter the waking-up stage.

.

libya 2.0? will the new guy redirect the wealth from the social programs to nyc? the nyc media will tell us by the picture they paint. i should have just posted the last sentence:

In fact, Venezuela paid its debts to the IMF in full five years ahead of schedule and in 2007 separated from the IMF and World Bank, thus severing the tethers of the Washington Consensus. Instead, Venezuela led the way to create the Bank of the South to provide funds for projects throughout Latin America and allow other countries to free themselves from the chains of the IMF and World Bank too.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom. - Patrick Henry

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. - James Madison

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

more from the link above:

As George Galloway wrote upon Chávez’s death, “Under Chávez’ revolution the oil wealth was distributed in ever rising wages and above all in ambitious social engineering. He built the fifth largest student body in the world, creating scores of new universities. More than 90% of Venezuelans ate three meals a day for the first time in the country’s history. Quality social housing for the masses became the norm with the pledge that by the end of the presidential term, now cut short, all Venezuelans would live in a dignified house.”

Venezuela is making rapid progress on other measures too. It has a high human development index and a low and shrinking index of inequality. Wealth inequality in Venezuela is half of what it is in the United States. It is rated “the fifth-happiest nation in the world” by Gallup. And Pepe Escobar writes that,”No less than 22 public universities were built in the past 10 years. The number of teachers went from 65,000 to 350,000. Illiteracy has been eradicated. There is an ongoing agrarian reform.” Venezuela has undertaken significant steps to build food security through land reform and government assistance. New homes are being built, health clinics are opening in underserved areas and cooperatives for agriculture and business are growing.

Venezuelans are very happy with their democracy. On average, they gave their own democracy a score of seven out of ten while the Latin American average was 5.8. Meanwhile, 57 percent of Venezuelans reported being happy with their democracy compared to an average for Latin American countries of 38 percent, according to a poll conducted by Latinobarometro. While 81 percent voted in the last Venezuelan election, only 57.5 percent voted in the recent US election.

Chávez won that election handily as he has all of the elections he has run in since 1999. As Galloway describes him, Chávez was “the most elected leader in the modern era.” He won his last election with 55 percent of the vote but was never inaugurated due to his illness.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom. - Patrick Henry

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. - James Madison

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Originally Posted by EO 11110

As George Galloway wrote upon Chávez’s death, “Under Chávez’ revolution the oil wealth was distributed in ever rising wages and above all in ambitious social engineering. He built the fifth largest student body in the world, creating scores of new universities. More than 90% of Venezuelans ate three meals a day for the first time in the country’s history. Quality social housing for the masses became the norm with the pledge that by the end of the presidential term, now cut short, all Venezuelans would live in a dignified house.”

Venezuela is making rapid progress on other measures too. It has a high human development index and a low and shrinking index of inequality. Wealth inequality in Venezuela is half of what it is in the United States. It is rated “the fifth-happiest nation in the world” by Gallup. And Pepe Escobar writes that,”No less than 22 public universities were built in the past 10 years. The number of teachers went from 65,000 to 350,000. Illiteracy has been eradicated. There is an ongoing agrarian reform.” Venezuela has undertaken significant steps to build food security through land reform and government assistance. New homes are being built, health clinics are opening in underserved areas and cooperatives for agriculture and business are growing.

Venezuelans are very happy with their democracy. On average, they gave their own democracy a score of seven out of ten while the Latin American average was 5.8. Meanwhile, 57 percent of Venezuelans reported being happy with their democracy compared to an average for Latin American countries of 38 percent, according to a poll conducted by Latinobarometro. While 81 percent voted in the last Venezuelan election, only 57.5 percent voted in the recent US election.

Chávez won that election handily as he has all of the elections he has run in since 1999. As Galloway describes him, Chávez was “the most elected leader in the modern era.” He won his last election with 55 percent of the vote but was never inaugurated due to his illness.

Sounds very much like obama's goals for these United States. The concepts are great; the sad thing is, there exist useless takers who choose to not contribute. I don't like supporting those.

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

1. a man of the people, standing in defiance of the nyc paper money tribe

2. the devil

looking at how the nyc media central control room frames him (while he gives them free heating oil), i lean towards man of the people

does anyone have anything to prove that wrong? or just nyc bullsh-t?

I almost lost some cash in the stock market in the mid 2000’s waiting on Hugo to sign a permit to mine gold, he lead this company on until they had the mine almost operational and if I remember correctly nationalized that mining operation. He was “devilish” in that deal which almost touched me personally.

Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.
Blaise Pascal

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Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Not too many of us will disagree with him here.....correct me if I'm wrong.

On the eve of his first official overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer, Hugo Chávez has launched a blistering attack on Barack Obama, describing the US president as a "clown" and an "embarrassment".

"Focus on governing your country, which you've turned into a disaster," the Venezuelan president told state TV on Monday. Chávez touched down in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, on Tuesday for a summit of Mercosur, South America's leading trade bloc.

"Mr Obama decided to attack us," he said. "Now you want to win votes by attacking Venezuela. Don't be irresponsible. You are a clown, a clown. Leave us in peace … Go after your votes by fulfilling that which you promised your people."

Chavez also called George W the devil. Sounds like he wasn't going along with the new world order. Also apparently he was doing business with Iran, omg omg omg. I'm surprised Venzuela hasn't been inducted into the Axis of Evil yet.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Tinbox For This Useful Post:

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Originally Posted by Tinbox

Chavez also called George W the devil. Sounds like he wasn't going along with the new world order. Also apparently he was doing business with Iran, omg omg omg. I'm surprised Venzuela hasn't been inducted into the Axis of Evil yet.

no kidding! we need an updated list

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom. - Patrick Henry

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. - James Madison

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Originally Posted by Tinbox

Not too many of us will disagree with him here.....correct me if I'm wrong.

On the eve of his first official overseas trip since being diagnosed with cancer, Hugo Chávez has launched a blistering attack on Barack Obama, describing the US president as a "clown" and an "embarrassment".

"Focus on governing your country, which you've turned into a disaster," the Venezuelan president told state TV on Monday. Chávez touched down in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, on Tuesday for a summit of Mercosur, South America's leading trade bloc.

"Mr Obama decided to attack us," he said. "Now you want to win votes by attacking Venezuela. Don't be irresponsible. You are a clown, a clown. Leave us in peace … Go after your votes by fulfilling that which you promised your people."

Chavez also called George W the devil. Sounds like he wasn't going along with the new world order. Also apparently he was doing business with Iran, omg omg omg. I'm surprised Venzuela hasn't been inducted into the Axis of Evil yet.

Hugo was first and foremost a megalomaniacal politician and patholgical hypocrite. He would say anything to anybody at any time if he thought it would add to his power base.

The Following User Says Thank You to Gcubed For This Useful Post:

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Originally Posted by Josey

I almost lost some cash in the stock market in the mid 2000’s waiting on Hugo to sign a permit to mine gold, he lead this company on until they had the mine almost operational and if I remember correctly nationalized that mining operation. He was “devilish” in that deal which almost touched me personally.

in your country they call that imminent domain

edit: for correct spelling, see below

Last edited by EO 11110; 03-07-2013 at 12:50 AM.

The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them. - Patrick Henry

Bad men cannot make good citizens. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience are incompatible with freedom. - Patrick Henry

The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home. - James Madison

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

This from left wing Slate.............

What has Chávez bequeathed his fellow Venezuelans? The hard facts are unmistakable: The oil-rich South American country is in shambles. It has one of the world’s highest rates of inflation, largest fiscal deficits, and fastest growing debts. Despite a boom in oil prices, the country’s infrastructure is in disrepair—power outages and rolling blackouts are common—and it is more dependent on crude exports than when Chávez arrived. Venezuela is the only member of OPEC that suffers from shortages of staples such as flour, milk, and sugar. Crime and violence skyrocketed during Chávez’s years. On an average weekend, more people are killed in Caracas than in Baghdad and Kabul combined. (In 2009, there were 19,133 murders in Venezuela, more than four times the number of a decade earlier.) When the grisly statistics failed to improve, the Venezuelan government simply stopped publishing the figures.

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

The Prez of Iran just issued a statement "comparing Chavez to Jesus Christ."

I don't know whether to or .

And, there, you have the clincher.

Chavez did little more than institutionalize the tyranny of the majority. Everyone demanding everything and the government giving it to them, so that they can stay in power. Sound familiar? I would bet that there are plenty of productive people in Venezuela who have lost everything to this megalomaniac and could tell a different story.

Chavez was able to keep the game going on oil money, but sooner or later the largesse will run out.

What then? I'd bet the same government that gives everyone everything will turn to the sword to keep its grip on power.

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Originally Posted by chris_is_here

And, there, you have the clincher.

Chavez did little more than institutionalize the tyranny of the majority. Everyone demanding everything and the government giving it to them, so that they can stay in power. Sound familiar? I would bet that there are plenty of productive people in Venezuela who have lost everything to this megalomaniac and could tell a different story.

Chavez was able to keep the game going on oil money, but sooner or later the largesse will run out.

What then? I'd bet the same government that gives everyone everything will turn to the sword to keep its grip on power.

I have to agree with Chris_is_here with one caveat. Chavez was able to institutionalize the tyranny of the minority via threats of violence and confiscation. Many good Venezuelans were intimidated into "going along" in fear of losing their money, property or their life after Chavez stole their freedom. Just look at Chavez's actions against RCTV and Globovision (and a host of smaller media outlets along with how many journalists who mysteriously wound up dead or severely beaten by Chavez apparatchiks). Chavez is not as popular as one would think but his state run media and his zealots from the slums who made the Brown Shirts look like a bunch of pantywaists kept the illusion of support for Chavez alive.

What is to be seen is which ruthless bastard will kill his way to the top. Too many Venezuelans are too terrorized and too fatigued to try to reform the system now.

"No man's life, liberty or property are safe while the legislature is in session." -- New York State Surrogate Court Judge Gideon John Tucker, Final Accounting in the Estate of A.B._, 1, Tucker (N.Y. Surrogate Court) 247, 249 (1866)

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. will be attending the state funeral for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday in Caracas, the nation's capital.
Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, will be leading a delegation organized by the civil rights organization -- which is separate from the official U.S. delegation.
"I had the opportunity to know President Chavez in a direct and personal way," Jackson Sr. said in a statement to Fox News. "I extend my deepest condolences to his family and along with people around the globe, am deeply saddened by his passing."
According to a Jackson aide traveling with the civil rights leader, he is scheduled to arrive Thursday night.
Jackson Sr. was presented with the Liberator's Award by Chavez in 2005, and spoke to the Venezuelan Parliament as part of the ceremony.

Re: Hugo Chavez Croaked

Tens of thousands of grieving Venezuelans line up, for miles, in the streets of Caracas to pay their respects to the open coffin of Hugo Chavez. ITV's Matt Frei reports.

By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News
Hugo Chavez's body will be permanently displayed in a special tomb, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced Thursday on state television.
Maduro said the official state funeral will begin Friday at 10:30 a.m. ET. Some 30 heads of state along with delegations from 50 countries are expected to attend. Following the ceremony, Chavez's body will lie in state for seven additional days, so that more people can see it.People have been waiting up to 12 hours to pay their respects in a line that snakes for more than a mile.
Maduro also announced that Chavez's body will be preserved in the same manner as that of Russia's Vladimir Lenin or China's Mao Zedong, so "he will always be with the people."
Visitors will be able to view Chavez's body in a special tomb now under construction in a Caracas museum devoted to his populist revolution. The site is called el Museo Histórico Militar de Caracas or Cuartel 4 de Febrero.
Maduro again called for peace and calm and thanked the public for respecting the solemnity of this occasion.
Friday afternoon, the parliament will hold a special session to swear in Maduro as acting president. Elections are expected to take place within 30 days.
Chavez, the socialist leader who ran Venezuela for 14 years, lost his two-year battle with cancer Tuesday. His illness was first detected in his pelvic region in 2011. He was 58.